My Body, My Rights
http://www.pes.org/en/news/my-body-my-rights
Party of European Socialist (PES) Gender Equality Ministers, States Secretaries and delegates, gathered in New York for the UN Commission on the Status of Women, have issued a declaration on maternal health and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. “We need to seize the opportunity of the 15th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for action on the issue of sexual and reproductive health rights and ensure we keep the objectives and goals set out in that 1995 Declaration as the basis for further progress” said PES Women’s President, Zita Gurmai.
The socialist and socio-democratic Ministers, State Secretaries and Delegates noted that in the 15 years since the establishment of the Beijing Platform for Action, there has not been sufficient progress in Europe and around the world, especially with respect to a range of women’s health rights and sexual rights. Moreover, the current global governmental commitment towards Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) needs to be enhanced if we want to reach the targets by 2015. Improvement in maternal health is the goal which has seen the least development in the last years.
They noted in their declaration that; “Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights, including maternal health, contribute towards women’s empowerment in the fields of social, economic and financial development”. The intention of the declaration, as expressed by Ms. Gurmai, President of PES Women, was to secure women’s rights, choice and access to information, sexual education for girls and boys, medical assistance, medical infrastructure, as well as prevention and contraception methods, which it was hoped would lead to an improvement of women’s position within society as a whole.
Therefore, PES Women, the PES youth organisation, ECOSY, the Global Progressive Forum and the Global Progressive Youth Forum called on all governments to reiterate their commitment towards maternal health in order to ensure the above-mentioned progress.
The campaign in favour of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights will continue throughout 2010 under the umbrella slogan ‘My Body, My Rights’ with three windows of action;
* a call for universal maternal health in the context of the UN Commission on the Status of Women
* a recommendation to the European Commission in support of the Spanish Presidency in introducing specific measures on combating violence against women
* a mobilisation on World AIDS Day
For further information please contact Brian Synnott on +32 474 98 96 75 (brian.synnott@pes.org)
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